Fiery Crash Results in Two Burned Trucks, Only One Injury

Friday

Apr 19, 2013 at 5:46 AMApr 19, 2013 at 9:07 PM

LAKE WALES | Two large trucks were destroyed by fire and one person injured in a traffic accident that closed all lanes of U.S. 27 south of Lake Wales for eight hours, the Polk County Sheriff's Office reported.

By JEREMY MAREADYTHE LEDGER

LAKE WALES | Two semi-trucks were destroyed by fire and one person injured in a traffic crash that closed U.S. 27 south of Lake Wales for eight hours, the Polk County Sheriff's Office reported.The highway was eventually reopened about 11 a.m. Friday.Two related accidents involving three tractor-trailers happened about 2:40 a.m. where U.S. 27 passes Crooked Lake, PCSO spokeswoman Donna Wood said.The first accident involved an International Truck and Engine Corp. tractor-trailer driven by 57-year-old Alan Timothy of Tindel Camp Road, Lake Wales. Timothy was rear-ended by a Volvo cab with an empty trailer driven by 54-year-old Jerry Austen Fritchey of U.S. 27 in Lake Wales, Wood said.Both were driving northbound on U.S. 27 near Collany Lane.Timothy told deputies he didn't realize he had been hit and continued driving north on U.S. 27 until he found a well-lit area and stopped. At that point, Timothy noticed damage to his truck and called law enforcement, reports said.Fritchey's trailer was disabled and without lights and he attempted to flag vehicles away, reports said. As he continued to alert oncoming traffic, the driver of a northbound Freightliner with a trailer saw the truck and attempted to swerve to avoid collision, Wood said.The front end of the Freightliner, driven by Angel Luis Jamie, 45, of Northwest 99th St. in Miami, struck Fritchey's truck. The impact caused it to catch fire and sent the Freightliner across the median and off the shoulder of the southbound lanes, where his tractor trailer also caught fire, Wood said.Fritchey suffered minor injuries and was taken to Heart of Florida Hospital in Sebring. The other drivers were uninjured, Wood said.

[ Jeremy Maready can be reached at jeremy.maready@theledger.com or 863-802-7592. ]